MHI Blog—Monday keynote of ProMat opens it with a bang. On Monday April 3, from 8:45-9:45 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom, Andrew Winston will lead a panel on supply chain and sustainability. Titled "Building Supply Chain Sustainability for Competitive Advantage: Lessons learned from leaders in innovative facility design," the panel will discuss how companies both large and small can use sustainability strategy to build more profitable and resilient operations and supply chains. Learn first-hand how leading brands have successfully incorporated environmentally sound practices into their facility design to improve efficiency, slash risks and costs, and drive innovation.

MIT Technology Review—Moving millions of gigantic metal boxes around the world is hard work—but circumnavigatingthe associated paperwork can be even harder. So the world’s largest shipping company has been trialing how it can make use of the digital technology behind the world’s most notorious cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, to make it a little easier. Bitcoin is built on what's called the blockchain: a digital ledger where each line is recorded based on the previous one using cryptographic techniques, making it almost impossible to modify at a later date.

Supply Chain Brain—An integrated approach to supply-chain management involves creating alignment across the business processes and throughout the supply-chain application suite. Such an environment requires that the supply-chain planning and supply-chain execution processes and applications are tightly coupled where planning activities and execution activities are interrelated. Ultimately, the idea is that the flow of material and information throughout the supply chain becomes a unified process.

MHI Blog—The Automation Solutions Group is presenting the webinar, "How Industry 4.0 and IIoT is Transforming Material Handling & Supply Chain," March 23, 2017, from 2-3 p.m. EST. This webinar, which will feature Dan McGinn, director of business development for Secure Power and Industrial Edge at Schneider Electric, kicks off what is planned to be a regular series of topical webinars that cover a range of material handling subjects. Register today!

Modern Materials Handling—The global IoT in warehouse management market is anticipated to reach $19.06 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing adoption of goods-to-person (GTP) technology in warehouses is expected to drive the growth.

Supermarket News—Retailers including Target and Whole Foods Market are revamping their supply chains and employing "goods-to-person," "order-to-shelf" and other strategies to help streamline inventory management and improve operations in stores, retail leaders have said. The strategies offer benefits including quicker shelf replenishment and saving space in stores' back rooms while reducing out-of-stock situations.

CNN—Ford is experimenting with 3D-printed parts that are lighter and potentially more fuel efficient than metal versions. The company is starting with spoilers, but says it eventually may be able to use 3D-printed intake manifolds and other complex parts as well.

The Washington Post—Jeff Bezos plans for his space company, Blue Origin, to deliver products to the moon. His plan, which has been submitted to NASA, details how a lunar spacecraft could land near a South Pole crater, where there is water and plenty of sunlight for solar energy production.

The New York Times—Blockchain, a type of bookkeeping method that "chains" entries to each other, is making it easier to track the movement of product. The IBM and Wal-Mart partnership in this effort could change how everything from avocados to pork chops are tracked.

Supply Chain Dive—Transportation logistics, including shipping delays, could cost the US chemical industry tens of billions of dollars in excess inventory and other additional expenditures. The industry's capacity is expected to increase by 18% by 2020.

FoodBusinessNews.net—Hershey plans to optimize its supply chain and reduce its workforce by 15% in a restructuring program to improve profits. Other components include scaling back investments in international markets and boosting work with omnichannel partners such as Wal-Mart and Staples.

arsTECHNICA—Amazon said that it would install solar panels on 15 of its fulfillment and sorting centers around the U.S. in 2017. That may not seem like a lot, but the massive warehouses in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Nevada, and Delaware account formillions in rooftopsquare footageand will ultimately reflect 41MW of installed capacity.

IndustryWeek—Frito-Lay has partnered with local high schools to develop a work-study program that gives high school students hands-on experience in the Frito-Lay factory. Students can earn high school credit, credits that can be applied to a technical college course, and earn an interview for the company's apprenticeship program.

The Wall Street Journal—The big-box warehouse market is reaching equilibrium after years of limited supply and rising rents. Speculative construction has filled the pipeline, and while rents are still high, there is not as much demand for space as in previous years.

Reuters—Starsky Robotics, Embark Technologies and Peloton Technology are among the tech startups developing systems that automate on-highway and off-highway operations of trucks. Starsky’s CEO says the company plans to "make trucks completely driverless" and will rely heavily on robotics, sensors and software.

Supply Chain Management Review—Laws continue to make companies responsible for third-party actions, including bribery and corruption claims, putting more pressure on businesses and suppliers to conduct due diligence on all partners. A recent survey showed only half of multinational companies employed corruption checks on third parties last year.

American Shipper—The annual global trade management report, "Changing Trade Winds: Using Structure and Automation to Combat an Uncertain Trade Environment," by American Shipper and BPE Global, looks at companies and how they focus on internal processes. That includes broader, and more effective, use of automation and development of compliance programs that permeate the entire organization.

Bookmark MHIsolutionsmag.com to gain quick access to any and all MHI media and news information. MHI Solutions magazine holds all issues of MHI Solutions and Newswire and Industry News eNewsletters, MHI’s Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin social media accounts as well as links to membership information, events, MHI view and the learning center.